Signal



' C V. GBAIMO Jam. M, W39.

SIGNAL Original Filed Nov. 26, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTQR fl/mrlcs VGmzmv ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 31, 1939 PATENTv FlE SIGNAL Charles V.Giaimo, Irvington, N. J., assignor to The Lionel Corporation, New York,N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application November 26, 1935,Serial No. 51,613. Divided and this application December 23, 1936,Serial No. 117,326

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to signals, and more particularly to noiseproducing signals, for example, whistles, and to the construction ofsuch whistles.

EiTorts heretofore made to provide toy trains with intermittentlyoperated sound signals such as whistles or bells have generally resultedin devices which are incapable of completely simulating correspondingparts of regular trains. Where a whistle is operated by the propulsionmotor of the train, whistle operation is dependent upon train movementand cannot be had when the train is standing still. Where the propulsionmotor is reversed, a fan type blower cannot be used and resort hastherefore been had to bellows types of device. With propulsion motoroperated whistles or whistles controlled from the track there is noopportunity for producing the signal at will. Efforts to operatewhistles bybellows have been unsatisfactory, asthey are not adapted toproduce a sustained signal, or satisfactory volume and tone.

Accordingly, the present invention contemplates the provision of awhistle or'similar signal which may be carried on the locomotive or acar of a toy train and be operated by remote control independent of theoperation of the propulsion motor of the train and independent of themovement of the train along the track. This signal is one which isadapted for sustained operation as long as desired so that variouswhistle signals can be given.

The present invention also contemplates a whistle in which all the partsare secured to a single unitary casting which provides a chamber for theblower as well as the resonating chambers and air passages whereby thesounds are produced. This casting may also support all the parts of themotor as well as the relay provided for controlling the operation of theelectric motor. In this way, a single preassembled unit is provided, sothat the entire whistle structure with associated parts may be assembledand wired r together and then inserted in the toy car or locomotive as aunit.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

The accompanying drawings show, for purposes of illustrating the presentinvention, one of the many embodiments in which the invention may takeform, it being understood that the drawings are illustrative of theinvention rather than limiting the same.

5 In the drawings- Figure 1 is a. top plan view of a whistle unitembodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same taken from the sidecarrying the motor, relay and a wiring diagram;

Figure 3 is a section taken on the broken line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an elevational view taken on the side opposite that ofFigure 2, parts being broken away to show interior construction;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 2; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view of a detail.

In the form shown in the drawings, the sound producing structure isdesigned to be secured to a fixed support it], such as the base or floorof a toy car, and for this purpose is provided with a supporting foot llmounted between soft rubber pads l2 and 13. These pads are secured to abody casting l5 by lugs l6 integral therewith and a plate II.

The body casting l5 may conveniently be made as a die casting. It has acontinuous flat front wall 2!! apertured as indicated at M and at oneend has rearwardly'extending walls 22 of involute shape adapted to forma chamber 22' for a blower. The other end of the casting has rearwardlyextending peripheral walls 23 and a rearwardly extending dividing wall24 adapted to form resonating chambers 25 and 26. The wall 24 isconnected to a wedge-shaped air deflector Zl slightly narrower than thethroat 28 formed by the ends 220. and 22b of the wall of the blowercasing. These parts provide constricted air passages 29 and 30. The sidewalls of the casting are cut away as indicated at, 3! and 32 to providefor the escape of the air passing through these air passages and lipsfor initiating the sound waves. The casting is provided with holes 33adapted to receive barbed rivets 33'. These rivets pass through openingsin a gasket 34 and a cover plate 35 and secure the cover plate andgasket in place. In this way resonating chambers are formed with nopossibility of leakage of air.

The blower chamber 22 is provided with a cover 35 secured in place byscrews 36 tapped into the die casting. This cover member has an opening31 to admit air, and may, if desired, be integral with the cover for theresonating chamber.

The casting 20 is provided with three forwardly extending posts 40, Mand 42 which support an insulating plate 43. The casting 20 also has anumber of alignment lugs 44 to hold the motor field structure 45 inposition. This field structure is secured to the casting by studs 46riveted to the casting. The motor armature 47 is mounted on a shaft 48having one end carried in a bearing 59 in the insulating plate 43, andthe other end carried in a bearing 50. The bearing 50 is supported in abridging piece forming part of the blower chamber cover 35, and is heldin place by a strap 52 secured to the rear face of the cover plate 35.This bearing carries a ball 54 to take the thrust produced by thebrushes and brush springs which are carried in brush boxes 55 and 55secured to the insulating member 43 and provided with wiring straps 55and 56'.

The impeller blades on the motor shaft are indicated at 51. These bladesmay conveniently be made up of two pieces of bent sheet metal shaped asindicated in Figures 4 and '7 and welded together as shown at 58.

The casting 2| is provided with a forwardly extending relay supportinglulg Bil. This lug supports a relay 6| preferably designed to becontinuously energized by the alternating current in the track circuit,but not actuatable thereby, and also so designed that, when a smalldirect current potential is superposed on the alternating current of thetrack circuit, the relay functions.

A suitable wiring diagram is diagrammatically shown in Figure 2. Thewheel bearing rails of a typical toy electric railroad track areindicated at 62, The vehicle carried apparatus is grounded to theserails as usual through the trucks B2. The third rail 63 is connectedthrough a current collector 64 and wire 65 both carried by the toy car,with a terminal plate 66 on the relay. The terminal plate is connectedto the coil 6| by a wire indicated at 6! and to thebrush box lead 55' bya wire indicated at 68. The other end of the coil is connected by aplate 69, which is grounded through a wire connected to the support I l.The other brush box lead 56 is connected by a wire H with the fieldwinding 12, and the other end of this field winding is connected by awire 13 with an insulated relay contact 14. The relay carries a movablecontact grounded to the frame so as to complete the circuit of theblower motor when the relay BI is energized with energy which will causethe relay to function. It will be noted that the circuit just describedis entirely independent of the circuit of the propulsion motor indicatedat 16. The usual reversing mechanism for this motor is omitted.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 51,613,filed November 26, 1935.

It is obvious that the invention may be embodied in many forms andconstructions within the scope of the claims, and I wish it to beunderstood that the particular form shown is but one of the many forms.Various modifications and changes being possible, I do not otherwiselimit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A whistle comprising a casting recessed from a substantially fiatface to provide elongated resonating chambers and a generallycylindrical blower chamber, and having constricted air passages betweenthe blower chamber and each resonating chamber and an air outlet foreach resonating chamber adjacent the air passage leading thereto,chamber cover means disposed over said face of the casting, and a rotaryblower in the cylindrical blower chamber.

2. In a whistle, a cast body having a front wall apertured near one end,rearwardly-extending Walls at the apertured end to form a generallycylindrical blower housing, an air deflector at the outlet end of saidblower housing disposed to form a constricted air passage, andrearwardly-extending resonance chamber walls extending from saiddeflector nearly to one end of the blower housing wall to form a vent,cover means for the rear edges of all said walls to provide a blowerchamber and a resonating chamber, and a rotary blower in the cylindricalblower chamber, the cover means for the blower chamber and the said walleach being apertured to provide air inlets.

3. In a whistle, a cast body having a front wall, rearwardly-extendingperipheral walls at one end, shaped to form a generally cylindricalblower housing, rearwardly-extending peripheral walls at the other endseparated from the ends of the blower housing walls, arearwardly-extending throat spaced from the ends of the blower housingwalls to provide air passages, a dividing wall extending from the throattothe said other end of the casting, and cover means over the rear edgesof all said walls to provide a blower chamber and two resonatingchambers.

4. In a sound-producing device, a rotating fan, a chambered body memberhaving a front wall and rearwardly-extending walls, and cover meanssecured to the body member to form, in cooperation with therearwardly-extending walls thereof, a plurality of resonating chambersand a fan-receiving chamber, the latter being provided with an air inletand with constricted air outlet passages, the resonating chambers havingco-operative lipped openings adjacent the outlet passages to initiatesound vibrations whose pitch depends upon the dimensions of theresonating chambers.

5. In a sound-producing device, a. rotating fan, a chambered body memberhaving a front wall, and rearwardly-extending peripheral walls and arearwardly-extending partition wall, and cover means secured to the bodymember to form, in co-operation with the rearwardly-extending wallsthereof, two resonating chambers separated by the partition wall and afan-receiving chamber, the latter being provided with an air inlet andtwo constricted air outlet passages separated by the partition wall, theresonating chambers having co-operative lipped openings adjacent theoutlet passages to initiate sound vibrations whose pitch depends uponthe dimensions of the resonating chambers.

6. A whistle comprising a cast body member having a front wall,peripheral walls extending rearwardly from the edges of the front wall,rear cover means fitted to the peripheral walls and spaced from thefront wall, a fan rotatably supported between the cover means and thefront wall, there being air inlet openings adjacent the fan axis and airoutlet openings in the peripheral walls, a portion of said peripheralwalls forming a fan chamber with a constricted outlet, and a partitionwall which divides the outlet into two passages disposed in advance ofthe outlet in the peripheral walls and forms two non-communieatingresonating chambers.

7. A whistle comprising a cast body member having a front wall andrearwardly-extending integral peripheral and partition walls disposed toform a fan chamber, two resonating chambers and two throats leading fromthe fan chamber to the resonating chambers, there being lipped openingsin the peripheral walls beyond each of the throats, chamber cover means,and a fan rotatably mountedin the fan chamber.

8. In a whistle, a cast body having a front wall apertured near one end,rearwardly-extending walls at the apertured end to form a generallycylindrical blower housing, an air deflector at the outlet end of saidblower housing disposed to form a constricted air passage, andrearwardlyextending resonance chamber walls extending from saiddeflector nearly to one end of the blower housing wall to form a vent,cover means for the rear edges of all said walls to provide a blowerchamber and a resonating chamber, a rotary blower in the cylindricalblower chamber, the cover means for the blower chamber and the said walleach being apertured to provide air inlets, and an electric motor havingits field structure and brush rigging secured to lugs formed on thefront wall of the casting and having its rotor drivingly connected tothe rotary blower.

CHARLES V. GIAIMO.

